Review of “I Can’t Think Straight”

I Can’t Think Straight comes hot on the heels of novelist-turned-writer/directorShamim Sarif’s movie The World Unseen, which recently enjoyeda great deal of success on the queer festival circuit.

A bit of background is necessary before we delve into the plot.

While I Can’t Think Straight is just now being released, it was actually Sarif’s first foray into directing a motion picture. The World Unseen was shown first, but it was made after I Can’tThink Straight — and while both films center around similar themes (such asfamily pressure in complex, traditional cultures), and both feature the talentsof actresses Lisa Ray and Sheetal Sheth, they have a few key differences,mainly in setting and scripting.

Unseen was a lovingly crafted period piece, adapted by Sarif’s ownnovel of the same name, while Straightis a louder, rougher picture, set in modern London amid the Indian-British and Middle-Eastern communities.

I Can’t Think Straight centers on the relationship between therich, headstrong Tala, a Jordanian woman and terminal engagement-breaker whofaces extreme pressure to marry a well-off Middle-Eastern man, and Leyla, a talentedbut introspective Indian-British woman who faces similar pressure at home.

Sheetal Sheth as “Leyla”

They meetthrough Ali (Rez Kempton), a young man Leyla dates casually (though her motherwould like to hear wedding bells), and immediately hit it off, beginning avibrant friendship that soon develops into something much more.

Warning: some spoilers (but the ending isn’t spoiled)

As theirrelationship grows more romantic, Tala bristles at the thought of breaking offher engagement and upsetting her very traditional parents. Thus, the centralconflict is set up — and both characters respond differently. Leyla, who wasunsure of her sexuality until she met Tala, takes it upon herself to live outand proud, while Tala is more fearful.

Eventually, it’sclear that their love affair will reach a breaking point.

While the film has a lot going for it, the script is surprisingly paint-by-the-numbers. Viewers familiar with lesbian films will be able to call the ending (and all major points of conflict) long before the credits roll. Also surprising is the number of cringe-worthy lines Ray and Seth utter, since Sarif is clearly a talented writer.

But both actresses rise well above the material, and put in lovely, nuanced performances. Their charactersshow an enormous amount of emotional growth from their first, tentative steps toward romance to the heartbreaking fights they endure later on.

Sheth makesLeyla’s shyness and confusion believable as those qualities slowly melt awayinto her confidant later state, and Ray has an expert touch making the usuallyheadstrong Tala so fragile and human when faced with matters of family and herown sexuality.

Lisa Ray as “Tala”

Anyone who has ever had to come out to a traditional family willinstantly sympathize.